Guns having means for horizonadjustment



Nov. 9, E937T E. MULLER 2,098,352

GUNS HAVING MEANS FOR HORIZON ADJUSTMENT Filed March 3, 1936 Patented Nov. 9, 1937 UNITED sTAres GUNS HAVING MEANS FOR HORIZON- ADJUSTMENT Eduard Mller, Dusseldorf, Germany, assigner to Rhenmetall-Borsig Aktiengesellschaft, Dusseldorf, Germany Application March 3, 1936, Serial No. 66,947 In Germany August 29, 1930 6 Claims.

This invention relates to gun mountings for use on unsteady platforms, ships and the like, and comprising an undercarriage pivotable about a vertical axis on a pedestal, and a cradle for elevation the trunnion axis of which can be horizontalized to adjust for tilting movement of the platform. For this purpose the gun may be made pivotable in the undercarriage about an axis disposed between the axis of training and the 10 axis of elevation, said intermediate or horizontalizing axis being substantially at right angles to both the training axis and the elevation axis. In guns of this kind, when large movements of the support occur, the gun layers are subjected to great inconvenience. The telescopic sighting means associated with a system which is capable of horizontalizing adjustment perform angular deflections which are as large for those parts of the gun which are not moved during such adjustment as those of the support or pedestal itself in space. The gun layer who works from a stand or seat which does not move with the horizontalizing adjustment must follow such movement by uncomfortable and fatiguing movements of his head and body.

According to the invention, movements of the eye-piece members of the telescopic sighting means away from the gun layer are avoided. Two constructional arrangements embodying the invention are shown applied to one and the same gun in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and

Fig. 2 a plan View of the described example.

In the gun shown in elevation in Fig. l and in plan in Fig. 2, the two gun barrels A, A1 are mounted, by means of a common trunnion C which carries their recoil cradles B, B1 so as to be pivotable vertically in a cross-shaped saddle D, which latter member is adapted to pivot about horizontalizing-adjustment pins E and rests in a lower gun carriage G which is adapted to turn about a vertical axis on the pedestal F.

The gun trainers seat H and the training mechanism J are arranged at the rear between the two gun barrels on the lower carriage G which does not take part in the horizontalizing-Y adjustment movement. The sighting device K for training is attached to the pin E of the saddle D and moves with it during the horizontalizing-adjustment, its eyepiece K1 being situated in the prolongation of the axis of the pin E and in front of the eye of the gun trainer.

The gun elevators seat L, the sighting device M for elevation, and the elevating mechanism N are fitted in front of the gun carriage between the two gun barrels, on the saddle D which moves during the horizontalizing adjustment, and takes part in such movement which is produced, for example, by means of a hand wheel O or by power driven mechanism.

It will be seen that the disclosure covers two different ways of achieving the object of the invention. In the rst arrangement the sighting telescope is so mounted on the saddle pivotable 10 about the horizontalizing axis that the optical axis of the eye-piece is co-axial with said axis, whereby although the telescope turns about said axis from the View point of the gun layer, it does not move away from that axis and his line of vision.

In the second arrangement the gun layers seat or stand is carried by the saddle which performs the adujstment movement about the horizont-,alizing axis, whereby, when the saddle along with the sighting telescope shift, the said seat or stand takes part in the shift and the undesired countermovement between the telescope and the gun layer is eliminated.

The drawing shows both arrangements applied to a gun mounting for two parallel guns, having separate elevating and training mechanisms, but the arrangements are applicable to a mounting for one or a plurality of guns, and either or both arrangements can be used. 30

I claim:

l. A. gun mounting for use on unsteady platforms, ships, and the like comprising an undercarriage capable of turning about a vertical axis for training adjustment, a saddle capable of horizontalizing turning movement in said undercarriage about a horizontal axis lying in the same vertical plane as said vertical axis, a gun cradle capable of elevational adjustment in said saddle, and sighting means including an eye-piece arranged on said horizontalizing saddle with the eye-piece substantially coaxial with the horizontalizing axis.

2. A gun mounting for use on unsteady plat- 45 forms, ships, and the like comprising an undercarriage capable of turning about a vertical axis for training adjustment, a saddle capable of horizontalizing turning movement in said undercarriage about a horizontal axis lying in the same vertical plane as said vertical axis, a gun cradle capable of elevational adjustment in said saddle, sighting means on the horizontalizing saddle, and a gunners seat carried by said saddle in convenient proximity to the sighting means. 

